Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Santa Barbara, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Santa Barbara in the 24 hours to 12:53 pm PST (20:53 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 15 km (9 mi) S, at 9:33 pm PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Santa Barbara
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 15 km (9 mi) south of Santa Barbara, CA, at 11:36 pm PST on 4 November 2026 (07:36 UTC), 1.7 km deep.
USGS: 15 km S of Santa Barbara, CA
13 km (8 mi) S of Santa Barbara, CA · 123 km (76 mi) WNW of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 11:36 pm PST on 4 November 2026 ()
- Where
- 15 km (9 mi) south of Santa Barbara, CA · earthquakes near Santa Barbara
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 1.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Santa Barbara County, 42 km NW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Pitas Point fault, 3 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 8 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Santa Barbara, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Santa Barbara, CA. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Santa Barbara, 15 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Summerland, Montecito, Mission Canyon, Toro Canyon, Goleta, Isla Vista.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 8.7 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.7 lb of TNT
Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.
For this area
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 5.1 on 2023-08-20 — about 140,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.8 The 1925 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 9 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 30 km SW of Channel Islands Beach, California · 37 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.5 10 km NE of Toro Canyon, California · 30 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.5 The 1941 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 14 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.2 9 km SW of Channel Islands Beach, California · 42 km ESE of this epicentre
Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.
Where
Epicentre 34.2835, -119.7038. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 42 km (26 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Ventura County, CA | 53 km (33 mi) | E | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Kern County, CA | 148 km (92 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Kern County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
3 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.
Revisions
USGS refines a solution as more stations report. Every change we have seen is listed here.
| What changed | From | To | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| review status | automatic | reviewed | |
| location | 14 km S of Santa Barbara, CA | 15 km S of Santa Barbara, CA | |
| longitude | -119.71 | -119.7 | |
| latitude | 34.29 | 34.28 | |
| depth | 1.35 | 1.72 | |
| magnitude | 1.69 | 1.64 | |
| location | 10 km S of Santa Barbara, CA | 14 km S of Santa Barbara, CA | |
| longitude | -119.7 | -119.71 | |
| latitude | 34.33 | 34.29 | |
| depth | 4.33 | 1.35 | |
| magnitude | 1.9 | 1.69 |
On USGS
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.